Tasty Thursday: Lactation Cookies

Just slightly over a year ago, my cute little niece was born and my sister and her husband were preparing to leave the hospital and head for home as a new family. As they were leaving, my sister tore a page out of her discharge packet and handed it to me. “Here,” she said, “I think you’ll find this interesting.” What she gave me was a recipe for Lactation Cookies. WHAT kind of cookies? I thought I had seen it all–apparently not! But I was instantly intrigued, I had to make these. I set out to find the recipe’s ingredients.

What are lactation cookies? They are cookies claiming to “help” a nursing mother’s milk supply through the addition of certain nutrients, namely a supplement called Brewer’s Yeast. Here’s what I have learned about Brewer’s Yeast and these cookies:

Brewer’s Yeast is just that–the type of yeast used in brewing beer. It is also a great source of B vitamins, which is notoriously lacking in the typical American diet. Even though in most cases, the nutritional content of breast milk is not affected by a mother’s diet, such is not the case with B vitamins. Adding Brewer’s Yeast to these cookies are a yummy way to sneak the nutrients into your diet. Other foods high in B vitamins are beef, pork, tuna, chicken, milk, eggs, whole grains, beans, peanuts, bananas and dark green leafy vegetables.

B vitamins provide the body with energy, support the nervous system, and maintain the health of your skin, hair, eyes, mouth and liver.

Other important ingredients in these cookies are oats (providing you the healthy calories you need while breastfeeding), and flax seed (rich in omega-3).

I had some trouble tracking down the recipe’s ingredients, but they are widely available if you know where to look. I found the Brewer’s Yeast at GNC, and the flax seed at Trader Joe’s. I’ve since found that Ocean State Job Lot has an amazing selection of Bob’s Red Mill products at great prices. I’d recommend trying there!

Despite my skepticism about these ingredients, the cookies ended up being a very tasty alternative to a regular chocolate chip cookie. I imagine you could serve them to your family if you are looking for a healthy sweet treat, but definitely make them for a breastfeeding Momma!

Gena Golas

First-time mom Gena loves balancing caring for her sweet Baby Boy with her job in the education department of a culinary school. Gena is a trained pastry chef and earned an MBA from Simmons College. When not working, Gena enjoys renovating her new house with her hubby, dreaming about owning her own business, and drinking large amounts of coffee. She and her family live happily ever after in Wethersfield.

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http://myeverydaymagic.com Kate Street

I LOVE this! What a FANTASTIC and yummy idea! ♥

Christa Allard

These really were delicious, and I had gladly accepted any help I could get in those early breastfeeding days – a new breastfeeding momma is always concerned about her supply and making sure her baby is getting enough!

Also, great tip on Ocean State Job Lot. I’ll have to check it out!

Jen Seiderer

OMG when I saw the title of the post I thought for sure they were gonna have breast milk in ‘em. Whew, glad I read on.

Jen Capitao

I made them for myself per my doctors recipe and also per doctor instructions had a guiness a day and my dwindling supply increased 4 oz a day instantly

Meghan

I recently made a batch of these (FYI I doubled the chocolate though! seemed like a lot of dough for one measly cup They are delish and taste like normal cookies. The H loved em too!

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